Reconcile
by Ao yuki
Summary: Hao was the King of a country. She was just a commoner who has a queer ability to foresee the future. Under extreme circumstances, they met and the battle of the century began.
1. Chapter 1

"Bring that girl to me, that girl who claims to see my Kingdom fall

A/N: A Tamao x Hao idea which struck me while I was showering. I just had to write it down.

This is an AU fanfic.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King and Shaman King do not own me.

_The stars twinkled in the hours of darkness, and a gentle wind blew. In a gigantic palace, a soft but authoritative voice who commanded the fate millions of people spoke._

"_Bring that girl to me, that girl who claim the ability to foresee the fall of my Kingdom."_

"_Yes. Your Majesty Hao."_

_The shadow sunk back into the darkness and disappeared into the dark night sky. _

Tamao sat on a stool, mending vigilantly at the holes on her dress, while humming a small tune.

It was late into the night, yet she was still awake, patching up a worn out looking dress with some equally worn out looking fabric. The moon was especially bright that day, pouring its yellowish beams of light on her strangely milky-white hands with its fingers flying, weaving swiftly. Her family was part of the lower class, where they had to worked long hours in order for survival. In the morning, she had to wash her employer's clothes until the evening, when she returns home to cook for her parents and her little sister.

Life was rather difficult for them, she admitted, but they had always managed to get by. In order to save the money used for buying candles, she had always depended on the moon for light when she needed it at night. He mother chided her for trying too hard to save money, but she still continued on.

She looked normal enough. Even though her mane of pinkish hair does tend to attract some attention, but however, she always had the ability to blend into the crowd. With her small frame and plain face, it was relatively effortless.

That was not the only ability she had though.

Through her dreams and sometimes instinct, she would be able to tell when thee weather was changing or when the wolves were going to attack.

It was not always clear to her what she sees in her dreams and when the dreams would occur. But there was one particular dream which was very clear and came frequently to her.

The dream, which bordered-line between being a nightmare, was when she saw a war between the Kingdom of which she reside in, and another Kingdom.

Fallen bodies littered everywhere. Unknown body parts strewn everywhere. Tamao would be a disembodied human standing in the middle of it all, watching everything somewhat apathetically, as if she did not have any emotions.

Every time she thought of that nightmare, she shivered slightly with fear. She was apprehensive that it might really come true. In that same dream, she saw a young man that even though wounded, standing proud and victorious. She assumed that he was the King. But was he the king of their country or the invader's country? She had no idea. A portion of her heart which whispers to her that it was the invader's country and that made her even more anxious. Curiously enough, her dream never told her the outcome of the battle.

Her biggest mistake was to tell her dream to her Aunt, the gossip queen in their small village. She told her aunt about her nightmare in the morning and by the end of the day, everyone heard of her 'prediction'.

Some of them ignored her, some of them laughed, and none of them believed her.

Sure, she had always been able to foretell when the weather would change or when a wolf is going to come, but when the kingdom would fall? No way.

She was half joyous and half indignant that no one believed her. She was joyous because they helped her to convince herself that it was just a dream and indignant because none of her dreams were false predictions.

Soon, the 'prediction' had even managed to travel to the next village.

Unknown to her, her dream was about to come true.

As soon as she yawned, she felt a small prick on her neck, and she knew no more.

The Sun shone intensely on Tamao's face, successfully waking her up. Rubbing her eyes to wake herself up, she yawned. 'Had she fallen asleep before she sewed finished her dress?' she wondered.

But when she sat up and looked around at her surrounding, Tamao blinked and realised with shocked that she was not in her own house.

In her clouded mind, she comprehend that she had been sleeping on a soft pink bed and a vanity table was in a corner of her eyes. Other than that, there was no other furniture was seen. A window was right in front of her, letting the Sun light creep in. Tamao was thoroughly bewildered. Where was she? How did she get here? Why was she here?

Sliding off the bed with a slightly dazed expression on her face, she went towards the window, hoping to find some clue as to where she was. Looking out, she blinked at the wide stretch of jungle in front of her and realised that she was somewhere very high, probably in a tower. A tower probably surrounded by a monstrous number of trees.

Tamao step back and ponder on her options. The greenery had cleared her mind a little. Her first escape plan was to jump down from the window. But that was a stupid plan. She'll just hurt herself or even fall to her death. Even if she managed to jump down safely unharmed, she wouldn't know which direction to go to anyway. In addition to that, the forest might contain some dangerous wild animals which she would never live to see again.

Her second option was to wait. It was no good either as Tamao could hardly stand still, let only sit and wait.

That left the last option…… And that is to try and open the indestructible-looking metal door behind her.

She turned around and faced the door. Sighing, she wondered if she should attempt what she was thinking.

The door was at least two metres high and was made of what seemed to be iron. There are no handles to be seen and Tamao didn't think it would open if she just pushed it.

For the sake of trying though, she decided to simply not think and do.

She stood a distance away from the door and closed her eyes. Taking a deep breathe, she then rushed towards the door, bracing for an impact, all the while despairing that she must have lost her mind.

What she didn't expect was when the door was suddenly flung open and she practically flew into the arms of a man.

The said man opened the door anticipating a frightened or even crying female. But before he could even fully open the door, a soaring human missile knocked the air out of him.

Tamao lifted her head to clear the mist that had settled in her mind with the impact…. But unexpectedly, she felt the 'ground' _move_.

Looking down, she came face to face with the man who had haunted her dreams almost every night.

Her felt her eyes widened with shock and her jaws dropped. Idly, she wonder how much shock a person could take in one day.

The man had shoulder length hair and deep chocolate brown eyes. Tamao was momentarily robbed of speech. Meeting someone whom you have only met in your dreams can do that to you after all. She blinked her eyes twice, thinking she must be in another dream.

"Excuse me, lady. If you would be so kind as to lift yourself off. I'm afraid I can't breathe properly." the man rasped out.

Tamao's face turned a tint of crimson red and stood up. Suddenly, she felt very self-conscious.

"I…I'm sorry, your majesty." Tamao looked down at her hands and mumbled to herself.

The man also stood up and brushed off the dust on his garments.

"I beg your pardon? I couldn't hear what you said."

Tamao turned a deeper red and declared.

"I am sorry, Your Majesty!"

She had declared this so loudly that his ears were slightly ringing after that. All of a sudden, he just realized what she said and frowned. How did she know that he was the King? Well, not that it really matters……

He smirked and told Tamao, "_Commoner_," he said, emphasizing on the commoner. "I give you permission to call me Hao-sama or just Hao. You may not call me Your Majesty. Do I make myself clear?"

Tamao only nodded her head. Her mind had still not recovered from the shock of seeing the emperor.

"And what is your name?"

'_Oh no, he is asking for my name! Wait, what's my name? It's Tameo. No! It's Tamo! Urgh! Fancy forgetting my own name! Let me think…… Ah! I remember now! It's Tamao!"_

"My... my name is Tamao."

"Good. Now, Tamao, do you have any questions you want to ask me?"

"No….. Yes! I mean, yes, Hao-sama." Tamao stammered.

'_Get a grip on yourself, Tamao! He's not a demon! He's just a human!'_

'_Yeah. A human who can chop your head off anytime he wants to……'_

Hao was waiting patiently for the girl to ask her question. She seemed to be in her own world. Is she 'reading' the future now? Really, Hao would rather be anywhere else but standing here in a deserted corridor. Oh wait, that was not the word to use. After all, he could feel the presence of his three 'invisible' guards that would protect him to death.

He cleared his throat and asked, "If you would follow me, I am sure that there are better places for answering your questions."

Tamao bowed and said politely, "I would like that, Hao-sama."

Together with Tamao following Hao, they went through a winding and twisting labyrinth of corridors.

While they were walking, Tamao had a perfect opportunity to examine the man which she saw in her dreams every night.

He was not that much taller than Tamao really. She guessed that he was only about twenty three or so. Tamao was eighteen already and was still not married. But she didn't mind. After all, her family needed her and she didn't really like any of her suitors particularly anyways.

"We are here."

Tamao was so deep in her thoughts that she did not realize that he had stopped and almost banged onto him again. A magnificent double-oak door with two carvings in the shape of a dragon and a phoenix stood in font of them.

"This is my room." He said.

Tamao was openly gaping at door, not really taking in what he said.

'_Wait. Did he just say his room?'_

"I beg your pardon, Your Majesty, I mean, Hao-sama. But what did you just say?"

"I said this is my room."

Tamao's mouth formed an 'oh'. She was going to be in the _Emperor_'s room?

He was inviting her to his room. A sudden image of a lowly commoner sitting in the Emperor's room made her uncomfortable.

"I….is…. is there another place we can go to?" Tamao was extremely uncomfortable.

Hao seemed very much amused at her nervousness.

"Well, there are many other places we could go. But I don't think that is necessarily. There are no monsters to eat you in this room." Hao said.

Tamao flushed in embarrassment while Hao gave a loop-sided grin.

He was having so much fun time teasing the easily embarrassed girl in front of him that he almost forgot the reason why she was here for. Almost.

"Are you going to just stand there?"

Hao had already entered the room and was sitting down comfortably on a tatami.

Tamao went in the room and tried not to be too awestruck by the splendor of the room. She couldn't possibly be gawking at everything she sees.

The Emperor's room was one word: gigantic. It was adorned in gold and red colour. A king-sized bed lay in a corner near a window and a desk with papers arranged neatly on it was right in the middle of the room. Ornaments such as vases, small sculptures and paintings were decorated all around the room. Tamao knew that each one probably cost more then her whole village's one year's wages added up together. If she even broke one of them...

Tamao mentally shivered. She would never get enough money to pay back. Not even if she work until she turns two hundred years old.

"So now, ask your questions."

Tamao stared at the space in between both of them. Then, she fired off several questions at once.

"What am I doing here? Who brought me here? Where am I?"

Hao sighed and prepared for a long answer.

"Before I answer any of your questions, I have to tell you something,"

"A war is forthcoming."

Tamao did not do anything more than stop her breathing. She knew it. She knew that her prediction was coming true.

"Judging by your expression or lack therefore in this case, I assumed that you knew something about this." Hao looked intently at Tamao.

"Well, continuing on, an invader country has been trying take over our kingdom. On his own, I have no doubt that the Emperor of that country would never start a war willingly. But unfortunately, he has a most ambitious wife which wants him to rule the whole world. I've heard that his wife is most formidable. She can stare down the bravest man and lead a troop. Frankly, I am a bit fascinated with her. But that's not the point. The point is you."

"You are a seer aren't you?"

At this, Hao seized Tamao up by watching her like a hawk.

Tamao felt uncomfortable under Hao's scrutinizing. She fidgeted and squirmed. Finally giving up, she said, "Yes. I suppose I am. But I can only see thing in my dream. And even then, sometimes it is not clear as to what I am seeing."

His gaze never left her.

"But you are our last hope. Before announcing to the people that we are going to war, I thought you could have helped. I have invited other 'seers' to this castle too. But they are all nothing but fake seers trying to earn a living. They know nothing about the Kingdom falling and are only lying about 'seeing' my Kingdom being ruled by me in peace and prosperity. I know that it is not true. My spies in that Kingdom has told me that the invader country had already started gathering the troops. I should probably start gathering them soon too."

Tamao remained silent all the way. She didn't know what to say. What could she say? There was going to be a war and there is nothing she can do except...

"Hao-sama, I could tell you the details about the dreams I have about the war. I don't know if it will help you, but it is all I can do."

Hao seemed to be relieved at Tamao's declaration. He had thought that maybe she'll be like all the women he was used to seeing. All of them always asked for something before he could even see them.

This woman was different. He didn't know how, but he knew that she was unique, one of a kind.

He looked at her. She was trying to hide it, but he knew that she was secretly staring at all the decorations in the room.

Hao's eyes softened at the sight. She must have never seen such luxury in all her life. He on the other hand, was used to seeing the splendor. He was the Emperor. He could have anything he wanted to have.

'_Even the woman in front of me.'_ his thoughts go astray.

Hao shook his head a little. Now where did that come from?

"Hao-sama?" Tamao's gentle voice brought Hao's attention away from the path his thoughts were traveling to.

"Yes, Tamao?" Hao answered distractedly.

"You haven't answered my questions. How was I brought here? Where is here?"

Hao pulled his mind out of the gutter and replied with as much seriousness he can gather.

"I cannot tell you who brought you here, but do not worry about your family. I have left them a…..considerable sum for them and a letter to say that you are fine. This place as you can see is a castle. I will not tell the location of 'here' least you mange to escape. I suggest you don't try it though. There are some animals in that forest which man had never seen before."

Tamao nodded her head. After all, she had expected that. She didn't felt like escaping anyway.

Hao stood up and offered a hand out to Tamao. Taking his hand, Tamao stood up too.

"You would be sleeping in a different room than the one you have been to this morning. That was just the upper prison to put sane captives in. I trust that you wouldn't escape while you are here…..Or there might be dire consequences."

Tamao just nodded her head.

A/N: This is supposed to be a one-shot…… But it turns out to be so much longer. Minor adjustment has been made.

Review!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: This as you can see, is chapter two of Reconcile. Just a mild warning, my updates will be irregular. I'll try to update as frequently as I can, but no promises.

Disclaimer: I don't know who Shaman King belongs to, but that person is definitely not me.

* * *

After reaching an agreement with the Emperor, Tamao was brought to an impressive room just beside the Emperor's own.

After that was a furry of activities of which Tamao was left slightly disorientated. A tiny girl who was supposed to be her personal maid was introduced to her. Her name was Morphine. She had a child-like attitude even thought she was supposed to be the same age as her. With her round wide eyes and an even wider smile, Tamao liked her almost immediately. Morphine was inquisitive by nature and began asking Tamao all sorts of questions. The first thing she asked was whether Tamao had a suitor. Tamao remembered gaping at her question, not knowing how to answer.

"_Look at you!" Morphine said knowingly. _

"_Your face is as face as a tomato!" she laughed._

Who knew the little girl's laughter was so infectious? Tamao tried to be offended by her laughter, but burst out laughing instead. An instant bond of friendship was formed between them.

Next, a tall, slender lady by the name of Elisa was in charge of notifying Tamao of the tine which each meal was to be eaten and the schedule of the castle. Tamao thought it was all rather methodical. Under her presence, Tamao felt a little intimidated. Her long golden hair all the way to her hips framed her sharp features perfectly and white teeth shone whenever she smiled….which she did the first time she met Tamao. Elisa seemed to have a permanent smile fixed on her face. It wasn't a fake like what most people have. Tamao felt that it was sincere and genuine.

Right after that, Tamao was whisked away to see different parts of the castle. The great hall, the kitchen, the stables, the four different towers, the courtyard, the weapons room, the throne room and some other parts she couldn't remember was shown to her. But there was something she does remember.

And that was the inner courtyard.

It was like a mini maze. Flaming orange colour marigolds and azure-coloured petunias cover the side of the pathways. Bushes cut into the shape of a fan lined up along the pathways. Near to the center of the courtyard was a fountain with a statue of a goddess in the middle. Water spurted out from her left index finger, which was pointing straight up to the sky. Her face was filled with joy, looking up into the sky, as if gazing into paradise.

Near her feet her were two mythical creatures. One was what seemed to be an elf. Its ears were pointed and looking at the fairy in adoration. The other mythical creature was a jovial dwarf. Its head was thrown back as if in laughter.

Around the fountains were gleaming white and pale pink peonies, her favorite flowers. The combined scent of the flowers was carried to her by a light breeze.

And oh! What wonderful aroma! Each flower seems to remind her of something or someone. Her grandmother, the river near her house, her clothes, her bed and even the smell of books in the local library!

She didn't realised she had been standing there for more than almost ten minutes without moving until Elisa tapped her lightly on the shoulder.

_Coming out from her trance, Tamao look confusedly at Elisa, who looked a little nervous._

"_I know the inner courtyard is beautiful, we are not allowed to actually step into here. If you wish to come back here again, all you have to do is to get His Majesty's permission. There was once when a servant ran across the courtyard and got caught by His Majesty himself. The servant was never seen again. Some say that he went back to his home, some say that he……" At that, Elisa leaned closer to Tamao._

"……_got executed by His Majesty."_

_Horrified, Tamao and Elisa walked carefully to the outskirt of the inner courtyard again. Tamao value her life after all._

It was such a pity that Hao-sama had banned anyone from entering the courtyard. It was so beautiful. Tamao had thought of asking the King for permission at first, but then the thought that asking the emperor for such a trivial thing was only wasting his time deterred her. Too bad then, the inner courtyard was just too beautiful to miss. The more she thought of it, the more obsessed with going in the garden she was. So much so that she was willing to defy the Emperor. There were so many bushes in the courtyard anyway. Tamao was sure that if she hid carefully enough, no one would see her and with luck, no one in the castle would miss her. Tamao did not planned on staying in the courtyard the whole day after all.

When the tour of the whole gigantic castle -which made Tamao feel insignificant compared to it- had ended, it was time for lunch. Food was brought to her bedroom by Morphine. Through chatting with Morphine, Tamao learnt from her that the dining hall in the castle was dusted everyday, but no one actually uses it for meals. It was only used for special occasions when important guests from other countries were here to stay at the castle. There was no one to dine with His Majesty otherwise.

"_But what about the Queen?" Tamao asked Morphine._

_For once, Morphine's face looked sorrowful._

_Tamao knew there was a story behind it, but before she could ask anything, Morphine gushed out._

"_Come; let's not talk about such things. We have much to do before sunset!"_

Morphine then quickly regained her smile. Before Tamao had finished her meal, Morphine literally dragged her away from her room. For a girl her size, she sure was strong.

It was very late at night when she was finally left alone in her room. Utterly exhausted didn't even began to describe how tired she was. But now, deep at night, Tamao lay on the soft and feathery bed, trying to sleep. After all that hustle and bustle in the day, it was difficult for her to relax and settle down. Moreover, Tamao couldn't get use to sleeping on such a comfortable bed. She kept thinking about her own stiff bed at home, and wondered how her mother would like to sleep on such a soft bed.

She didn't get to observe her room in the day, so Tamao decided to explore her room a little in the night. By Hao-sama's tone of voice, it seems like she was to stay here for quite a while.

Her room was fairly large, plainly furnished compared to the Emperor's but exceptionally decorated compared to her home. The stretch of wall behind her were windows; her bed being right below them. A desk was placed on the right corner, right below the windows. A cabinet was propped up against the left wall.

Throwing the cabinet open, Tamao expected for it to be empty, but she was wrong. White fluffy towels were folded neatly at a corner in the cabinet with a pair similar fluffy slippers and ear muffs.

Closing the cabinet doors softly, Tamao went to her bed and lay down.

Slowly but surely, her thoughts drifted her to dreamland... and finally falling into a deep slumber.

0000000000

_A hand covered in red blood that has hardened._

_An unknown body twisted at an unimaginable angle._

_That was what Tamao saw. She was in her 'dream' again. The future, the outcome of the upcoming War._

_You would have thought that after so many times of seeing the same battlefield, the same gory scenes, Tamao would have long gotten use to it. That was far from the truth. Every time Tamao arrives, she would still want to throw up. Every time, there seemed to be something different. Whether it was the weather condition, the amount of brave determined soldiers left standing or the texture of the scene. Sometimes, the scenes were very much clearer, making them all the more horribly and terrifying. Sometimes, the scene was blurry as if a fog has settled over the battleground._

_But there was something that never change though, and that was the victorious Emperor. He would always appear about ten metres away from her. Always standing regally and the same determined glint in his eyes._

_This time, the scene was as clear as if everything was really happening right now._

_There were no standing soldiers around. No fighting, no shouting. In fact, there wasn't a single sound, except maybe the soft whispers of the wind._

_Tamao wanted to wake up right away, away from the red land and back the castle. She shut her eyes and concentrated on leaving. She could almost feel the soft bed under her when she remembered her promise to tell the Emperor everything in her dreams. That thought made her stops forcing herself to wake. _

_To stop her dream from ever coming true, she must observe her surrounding area, searching for clues to stop the War from ever happening._

_With a firm nod of her head, Tamao pursed her lips and looked around for the Emperor. It didn't take long. He was about ten metres away from her as usual, standing tall and straight just like a King should be._

_Tamao didn't notice it at first, but the whole 'dream' felt different now that she actually made an effort to see properly. Not the usual differences, but it was as if something had significant had changed._

_Taking another look around, there doesn't seem to be much of a difference in the physical appearance. But the she was aware of how the something had shifted. But what was it? Was the change good or bad? Somehow, Tamao could feel the air suddenly turn hostile. It seems like the significant change was not good._

_Tamao then took a step closer to the Emperor. That was a mistake. She felt herself being ripped from the scene and sent pummeling down to her own body._

0000000000

Tamao awoke bright and early next morning. The Sun had just risen and the room was flooded in pale crimson. It seem to comfort her somehow as she glance at to her left wall that the Emperor's room was right beside her although the dream was still real and vivid in her mind.

'I have never been thrown out of my own dream before.' Tamao thought to herself. There seem to be something that she shouldn't know about...

Tamao wasn't allowed to ponder upon the 'thing-she-shouldn't-know-about' however. There was a knock on her door and Morphine's exuberant voice floated to her through the rather thick wooden door.

"Mistress Tamao! Are you awake?"

Tamao shook her head fiercely, whipping away the cobwebs of sleep and dreams to shout back.

"Yes, Morphine! Come in!"

The wooden swung open silently as Morphine bounced happily into her room.

"Mistress Tamao! It's time for you to get dressed for breakfast!"

Tamao looked at Morphine in puzzlement. Get dressed? There wasn't any dress around as far as she knows other than the one on her. And wasn't breakfast supposed to be in her room by the way?

As if sensing her incomprehension, about the word 'dress', Morphine snapped her finger and three more people dressed in the castle maid's uniform stride in her room. Two of them held an amethyst coloured gown between them while the other carried a rather heavy looking chest.

Tamao's breath caught as she stared at the gown held between two of the maids. There was no doubt in her mind that it was silk. No other material could catch the sunlight like this.

"This is the dress which I was referring to. His Majesty had requested breakfast in the dining hall with you yesterday night. And as you can guess, eating in His Majesty's presence require a certain dressing code. If you don't mind, Mistress Tamao, we need to get started."

Tamao opened her mouth to complain that she can dress herself perfectly fine thank you, but there was no room for complains when the door to her room slammed shut with a somewhat ominous 'bang' and the maids moved towards her.

Tamao involuntary took a step back as the maids suddenly seem to appear beside her.

Within a quarter of an hour, Tamao was dressed in the most stunning gown she has ever worn before. Her mane of hair is simply slicked back through in a weaving manner into a low ponytail and a simple necklace in the shape of a dove hung on her neck.

Staring at herself in the mirror that has magically appeared, the dream already thrown to the back of her mind, Tamao was surprised. Her hair was tidier than usual, the dress emphasising her slim waist and she looked almost pretty.

"Mistress Tamao! His Majesty has called for your presence in the dining hall now. Please proceed there now."

With a graceful twirl, Tamao left her room.

* * *

A/N: This chapter is slightly shorter than my previous one. It's not that I don't want to type my story you know. But every time I manage to hack a dent in my homework, more piles on top of it. This chapter is not my best, but not my worst either.

Remember to leave a review.


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